SerpApi.Org
HAMDEN — Liz McNicholl, a beloved figure in Connecticut music and cultural circles, touched hearts, crossed lines and is being remembered as someone who "had a wonderful gift for spreading joy through music."
A native of County Meath in Ireland and longtime resident of Hamden, McNicholl, who was laid to rest Thursday, was popular among folk music fans as well as in Irish-American circles throughout the state.
She was beloved in Hamden, where she lived and ran an early childhood music program — and as a breast cancer survivor, sang at the 2022 dedication of a memorial garden in Hamden Town Center Park for those lost to breast cancer.
She was equally beloved in West Haven, where she performed her own moving version of Tom Paxton's "The Bravest" each year at the city's annual 9/11 commemoration, as well as at the Savin Rock Festival.
Since her passing Saturday at 58, the mayors of both West Haven and Hamden posted heartfelt tributes to her on Facebook.
McNicholl was well known in New Haven, where she was an essential part of many St. Patrick's Day Parade celebrations and performed in the International Festival of Art & Ideas and the CT Folk Festival.
She was equally well-known in East Haven, where she made regular appearances at the Irish-American Community Center; North Haven, where she played at the Connecticut Irish Festival; Fairfield, where she sang at the Gaelic-American Club, Westport, where she performed at Levitt Pavilion, and Newtown, where she played at McLaughlin Vineyards. Over the years, she performed in public libraries throughout the state.
She even performed on St. Patrick's Days at the Aer Lingus gates at Bradley International Airport — and according to her website, McNicholl's music can be heard when people get put on hold on Aer Lingus' reservations line.
McNicholl died after years of struggling with mental health and chronic pain issues, her family said in a Facebook post that included a video. She is survived by her husband of 37 years, Aaron McNicholl, and her sons, Darragh and Gavin, among others.
"Her passing has left an indelible hole in our hearts, and we miss her beyond belief," they wrote.
McNicholl "will be remembered with so much love, grace, tears, and laughter. We love her to the moon and back, and we know we are not alone," her family wrote. "She was beautiful, she was loving, she was generous, and she was brilliant. She had a wonderful gift for spreading joy through music, through laughter, and through her unending love for people."
At the celebration of a Mass of Christian Burial for her Thursday at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church — attended by hundreds of people, just as hundreds of people packed her wake the day before at Sisk Brothers Funeral Home — McNicholl was eulogized just as she lived: with love and sweet music.
Along with "Ave Maria" and other expected trappings of a Catholic funeral mass, the service included son Gavin McNicholl's heartfelt rendition of Alan Jackson's "I'll Fly Away" and a closing performance of Tom Waits' "Old Shoes" by four of her longtime collaborators: Peter Blossom of Guilford, John Hurley of Monroe, MorganEve Swain of Haddam and Fred McKay.
"Seeing all of you here now, sharing your love for my mom" left son Darragh McNicholl "measuring my life by how many people have told me in the past few days how much they love her," he said, moments before his brother performed. "I hear her in your laughter, in your voices. I feel her in your hugs."
Darragh McNicholl said his father "was together with her for 37 years; the best 37 years of his life."
The eulogies extended well beyond McNicholl's funeral.
"Liz McNicholl represented the best of the Hamden community," wrote Hamden Mayor Adam Sendroff in a Facebook post. "Immensely talented and incredibly generous, her spirit and her voice made Hamden a better place ... and while her voicc may be silenced, that spirit will live on," he said.
"We are so sorry to learn of the passing of Liz McNicholl," wrote West Haven Mayor Dorinda Borer, a onetime New Haven St. Patrick's Day Parade grand marshal who knew McNicholl from Irish-American events as far back as 2000, well before Borer got involved in politics.
"Liz performed 'The Bravest' by Tom Paxton for years at every 9/11 ceremony for the City of West Haven. Her music, including 'Let There Be Peace On Earth,' would leave the audience silent and emotional," Borer wrote. "Our condolences to her family. Rest in peace, Liz, and thank you for sharing your beautiful talen with all of us."
In a subsequent interview, she called McNicholl "a cherished part of our ceremony."
Musician and studio owner Steve Rodgers, a former member of Mighty Purple and former owner of The Space, The Outer Space and the Space Ballroom, said McNicholl "became a close friend of mine in the last five years ago. She played with me on a number of shows" and "she was like a joy in all of them," he said.
"What's so heartbreaking about all of this is, everybody loved her," he said. In losing McNicholl, "We lost a really bright light ... I just hope her light and her music lives on through all the musicians she touched," Rodgers said.
Jeff Conlon, an Irish-American musician — and former New York City police officer — who knew McNicholl from back when they both lived in New York, would perform with her on St. Patrick's Days at the Playwright Irish Pub in Hamden.
Conlon, who recently moved to South Carolina, said McNicholl nurtured many young musicians through her Musical Folk musical school, with locations in New Haven, North Haven, Branford, Cheshire and Woodbridge.
"She's just one of the good guys, man ... There's a part of me, I'm crushed. I miss her to death," he said.
McNicholl "is one of those people who obviously put it all out there for other folks," Conlon said. "Very, very generous with her time ... she played at old age homes ... she played for the firemen every year ... Anybody who ever followed me, and followed Liz, knew that we had a connection," he said.
"It's just really sad," said Blossom, who played guitar in McNicholl's band for 18 years in addition to playing with Hurley in their own band, Red Planet. They even went to Ireland with her to perform.
"She's just a tremendous person," Blossom said. "...She just had that connection with people."
Swain said one of the things she loved about McNicholl was that "no matter how much time passed between playing, it was still exactly how we left off."
